Here are a few terms that you need to learn before you get too deep into this guide.
I know. Your probably wandering what's this got to do with raising worms? Well, I'll tell you. Nothing and everything. Depending on who you are.
Vermi-culture
This is the artificial rearing or cultivation of worms for a specific
purpose. Many worms in
various worm species are raised for bait, food, pets,
school projects, waste management, and my personal
favorite harnessing their excrement.
Vermi-compost
In worm
farming terms, it's the product or process of using earthworms, mainly red wigglers (Eisenia
Fetida), to consume waste and turn it into a rich soil amendment.
Vermicompost contains not only the worms but the bedding materials,
organic waste, microorganisms, and worm castings.
Vermi-Castings
Vermicastings
(worm castings) is simply worm poop. It is the excreted substance that
comes out of the back end of the worm. Many purposes of vermicastings
are used in household plants, gardens, lawns, and commercial farming.
It's primary purpose is to rejuvenate, or reclaim the spent state of
ordinary and chemically fertilized soil to a rich, vibrant and reusable
substance. Often times people use this
synonymously with vermicompost but it has an entirely different meaning.
This will become useful in the future should you ever have to make a
distinction.
Worm Tea
a nutrient rich liquid teaming with beneficial microbes for the use of
feeding and maintaining healthy plants.
The "worm tea"
comes from a process in which the castings are brewed in a highly oxygenated
water supply in order to multiply the beneficial organisms which are essentially
food for the plants.